


The Unimaginable

by killingmonsterswritingthings



Series: 10 Days of LawLu [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: 10daysoflawlu, Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 19:53:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7067740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killingmonsterswritingthings/pseuds/killingmonsterswritingthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fighting Kaido claims its casualties and in the aftermath it's left to Law to comfort Luffy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Unimaginable

**Author's Note:**

> what can i say, im a major character death kinda girl and my first reaction to the prompt was literally "so, who do i kill?"  
> anyway, lets hope my weird prophecy powers dont come into play here ("what do you MEAN i predicted this alliance in 2010???") and everyone survives, okay?
> 
> written for lawlu week day 6: Loss//Change
> 
> the title comes from [It's Quiet Uptown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcd_g8FY1tE) from Hamilton
> 
> if you want to be warned as to who dies [ click here](http://luffylaws.tumblr.com/post/145308742965/so-since-im-a-major-character-death-kinda-girl-i)

Fighting Kaido and the Calamities was a nightmare.

Law hadn't expected it to be easy by any means but a few hours into the battle he was sure he had never seen this much blood in his life – which meant a lot, considering his occupation and past.

By the time the Sanji retrieval team had made it to them they had been in a serious pinch already and despite the significant backup power that Luffy, Sanji and Nami provided it wasn't looking good for them.

Chopper and Law had already had to exit the fight once to somehow patch up Usopp who had almost lost a leg despite being a long-distance fighter.

They were outnumbered.

  


  


Law had just brought down another enemy when there was a scream of “Zoro, NO!” followed by a wordless shriek from a few hundred meters away and Law knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

Without thinking Law let the body of his dead combatant drop to the ground and collapsed his Room, turning to run over to where Luffy and Zoro had been trying to get under Kaido's skin – quite literally.

As he drew closer he saw that they had somehow managed to give Kaido a large wound across his right arm, causing him to retreat. But there was no cheer in Law's observation.

Luffy was sitting on the ground, cradling Zoro's upper body in his lap.

Blood was gushing out of a deep wound in Zoro's chest with every labored breath that he took.

Law went to his knees next to them, the blood all over Zoro's body and Luffy's hands all too obvious to him, his hand already in the motion to bring up a Room.

“What happened?” he asked, surveying the damage and feeling his throat close up. This was too bad. It was too much.

“Kaido got him with one of his horns,” Luffy choked out, tears in his eyes. “Please...”

“I don't know how much I can do,” Law said, frantic. “It pierced him right through the heart and I can't stabilize or regenerate that on the battle field. There almost nothing left-” He knew he was rambling, making excuses, that he just didn't want to tell Luffy that Zoro was losing too much blood too rapidly and that the ruins of his heart should have given up by now.

“No,” Zoro said, just a whisper, and he had to repeat himself a little louder to make sure he was heard. “No.” It wasn't much stronger. He managed to reach up to grasp Luffy's arm.

He had to be in so much pain.

Luffy's hands ghosted over his arms, then to his cheek. “Zoro...”

Or maybe he didn't feel anything at all.

Law heard – felt – the last weak beat of his heart before it stilled.

“You're okay,” Zoro wheezed, looking up at Luffy and _smiling_. “I'm glad.”

His grip on Luffy's arm went limp and his eyes became empty.

“Help him,” Luffy begged, not looking away from Zoro and running his hand over his hair. It broke Law's heart. “Law, _help him_!”

“I can't,” he said, although he had one hand hovering above Zoro's chest, ready to take out his heart, to stitch it up, to do anything. “He's gone, Luffy. He's dead. I can't bring back a heart from nothing and I can't resurrect the dead.”

No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't work miracles.

He wished he could.

  


Not everyone had realized what had happened yet, especially since Sanji, Nami and Chopper were too far away, Usopp and Shachi back on the ships for recovery, with most of the others only slowly realizing what was going on.

Kaido had retreaded and seemingly taken a lot of his underlings with him, possibly to regroup. Usually they wouldn't have let that happen but right now all Law could do that hover next to Luffy and Zoro's body.

“No,” came a whisper from above them and he looked up to see Robin, who had come over to see what was happening after her opponent had fled after Kaido. “Oh no.”

Law didn't know what to do.

“Not again,” Luffy whispered. “After Marineford I swore myself that this would happen never again but… but...” He was bent low over Zoro's body and Law slowly got up, moving to the side a little just as Sanji barreled past him.

“Fuck, _no_ ,” he said and it sounded so broken that Law had to take another two steps back as Sanji went to his knees next to Luffy and Zoro. “No, you _don't get to do that_.”

Bepo appeared at Law's side a moment later. He didn't say anything, just stared at the scene in front of them, a steady presence in their broken world.

  


Law almost didn't want to say it but he had to. “I could try the Perennial Youth Operation.” He was sure no one but Bepo heard him, all Straw Hats minus Usopp having crowded around their dead Swordsman.

Bepo stared at him, eyes wide, his fur matted with blood that wasn't his. “That wouldn't work… would it?”

“I don't know,” Law said. “But if it can grant someone eternal youth it can grant them a second chance at life, too. I just know it.”

“No, you don't,” hissed Robin who had backed away from the group a little and must have overheard. Law had never seen her so furious. “There is no guarantee and Luffy can't lose both of you. And even if it would work, do you think he would be happy knowing that you traded your life for Zoro's? You can't be that naive.”

Law stared at her for a moment, something in his chest uncomfortably tight. “I know,” he said after a moment of stunned silence. “I know… But I have to help _somehow_.”

Brook, who seemed to have heard Robin's outburst stepped in next to them. “Zoro wouldn't want that,” he said.

“And Luffy doesn't either,” Robin added with tears in her eyes. “Be there for Luffy. He needs you now. He needs us all. And above it all he needs us to win this fight for him and Zoro.”

They were interrupted by Luffy crying out loudly and Law turned to see him staggering to his feet, Gear 2 already activated, nothing but rage in his eyes.

“Luffy no!” he could hear Nami yell, but Luffy shook her off.

Law was at their side before he could even think. He wrapped his arms securely around Luffy, holding him back.

“Don't,” he said silently, his own voice hoarse. “I know it hurts and I know all you want to do right now is to destroy but this isn't the way. This way only lies madness and destruction and more death – your own death.”

Luffy was shaking in his grip. “If I have to die for Kaido to be defeated then _so be it_!” he screamed.

“Zoro wouldn't want that,” Law said, a direct echo of Brook's words, and suddenly he understood.

“But _I_ want to,” Luffy growled, albeit deflating a little.

“You can't defeat Kaido like this,” Law said. “I want to kill him too but you need to calm down first, do you understand? We need a plan. And then we can make him suffer.”

There was silence for a minute, but Luffy had stopped struggling. “Okay,” he said finally.

  


  


Their strategy wasn't perfect, but when had it ever been.

While they deployed two people to bring Zoro's body back to the ships the others came up with a plan to succeed in killing Kaido.

And they managed.

There was even more blood, but all of them fought through the exhaustion and the pain and the screams and came out on the other end with wounds that would undoubtedly scar but no other casualties.

  


  


Normally there would have been a party.

But with what had happened there was only silence.

  


  


It hadn't sunk in for a lot of them yet, not with the battle and the urgency, but now everyone was sitting on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, heads in their hands to hide their feelings or just plain crying out in the open.

Law had put up Zoro's body in the second operating room on the sub to give the Straw Hats both the room to grieve and retreat into their space on their own ship while also allowing them to say goodbye to him in a dignified way.

  


Luffy had kept mostly to himself and Law felt like this was similar to how he had reacted after he had woken up after Ace had died – except this time he hadn't slept or eaten at all since it had happened.

By the time they approached a full day since the battle had ended both crews and the Minks too were in agreement that they should leave. Only Luffy hadn't said a thing.

Law had been sitting on the deck next to Bepo when he saw Luffy leave the cabin he had been hiding in and jump over the railing to vanish into the woods. This, too, felt eerily familiar.

No one seemed to be too happy with their captain leaving but none of the Straw Hats said anything beyond casting worried looks towards the trees. Law sighed and got up.

“I'll bring him back,” he announced.

  


Following Luffy wasn't too hard, since he hadn't gone very far and not strayed from the path much. Law spotted him sitting on a fallen tree from the path he was following and turned to leave it.

“Hey,” Law said, settling down on a tree stump across from him.

Luffy didn't say anything so Law didn't press.

Luffy had let neither Chopper nor him exam or treat the nasty wounds on his leg and back and his left eye was almost completely swollen shut thanks to a haki punch.

They had wondered if they could treat him once he fell asleep but even that hadn't felt right to Law, even though it was redundant since Luffy hadn't slept at all until now.

He had his arms wrapped around himself like he was cold or trying to protect himself.

“The others want to leave,” Law said after a few minutes of silence only broken by birds chirping. Law wondered how they could still sound so cheery.

“I know,” Luffy croaked, looking at the ground.

“Do you want to come back with me?” Law asked. “I promise you don't have to talk to anyone.”

“Not yet.”

So they kept sitting there, lapsing back into silence.

  


“Why?” Luffy asked after what had to have been another ten minutes of not talking.

Law didn't have to ask what he meant. He also didn't tell him that death was a normal part of life because a violent death like this was so far from normal no one could make it better.

“I don't know why,” he said instead, because it was the truth and because he had been asking himself the same question for over a decade. “But I know it wasn't your fault.”

“Whose was it then?” Luffy asked and Law could hear the anger creep into his voice.

“Kaido's,” Law said. It was his fault after all. Kaido had dealt the killing blow.

“That's too easy,” Luffy said, shaking his head, “and nothing in life is ever easy.”

Law hadn't thought he could possibly hurt more for Luffy but he felt like his heart was breaking all over again. He didn't want Luffy losing his positive, _easy_ outlook on life. It had kept him going so far – it had kept them all going so far.

“You don't really believe that,” he said quietly.

Luffy looked up at him for the first time, tears swimming in his eyes, his mouth twisted in pain. “No, I don't,” he said.

Law was sliding off the tree stump before he had even told his legs to move. “Oh Luffy,” he made, kneeling down in front of him and had Luffy almost immediately crawling into his lap.

“I don't know what to do,” Luffy confessed.

“I know,” Law said. “I know.” He rubbed Luffy's shoulders, staying well-clear of the broken skin on his back, and ignored the tears soaking into his shirts. “That's okay.”

While still just as painful, this somehow was better. It felt more like Luffy – emotional, loud Luffy – than the silent treatment they had been getting.

Now at least Law knew what to do, and where to start. He could just hold Luffy and while he knew that that wouldn't make it better necessarily he also knew that it would at least show Luffy that he was there.

“You don't have to deal with this on your own this time,” he said after a while. “You have your crew. Your nakama.”

Somehow that only made Luffy cry harder.

Law realized that for all his experience and all his adventures with his friends he had somehow always dealt with grief on his own.

“They miss you,” he continued. “They love you.”

  


It took maybe half an hour but finally Luffy calmed down enough to doze off on Law's shoulder.

“Can we go back now?” he mumbled when he jerked awake the second time.

“Yes, of course,” Law said. “Come on.” He moved into a crouch to allow Luffy to climb onto his back. He carried him back to the ship, to the group of waiting Straw Hats that still kept their distance but smiled at their Captain with relief and exhaustion written clearly on their faces.

Only Nami came up to hug Luffy once Law had deposited him back on the bench around the mast. He had woken up again but Law knew he wanted to do nothing more than go back to sleep.

  


Luffy allowed Law to treat his wounds when they were out at sea.

Law was sure they would heal in time.

  


Later Luffy slept, nestled into Bepo's now clean again fur, Law on his right, Chopper on Luffy's lap, Nami to his left and the rest of the Straw Hats slowly crowding in around them to join the pile.

It was the first time Law felt actually calm after what had happened and he could imagine that some of the others felt the same.

They dozed off one after the other and Law was sure he was one of the last ones awake, his hand laced with Luffy's, wondering if the silence was more peaceful this time around.

  


With luck the loss of Zoro would stop bleeding and leave only a scar in time, too.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry? i'm offering tissues, tea and chocolate for anyone who needs it


End file.
